Railway-switch



v(No Model.)

- J. AH. QUIMBY.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

N01 275 518. Patenfed Apr.1o.1883.

y' AUNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JOHN H. QUMBY, OF CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

RAILWAY- s wlToH.

SPECIFICATION forming vpart of Letters Patent No'. 275,518, dated April 10, 1883.

' Application filed January 23, 1883. (No model.) .y

To all whom tt may concern:

Beit known Athat I, JOHN HENRY QUIMBY, of Concord, in the county of Merrimac, of the State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and iisefullmprovementin Automatic Switches for Railways; and Ido hereby declare the same to be described in the following specification andrepresented in the accompanying drawings, ot' which y Figure l is a top view of a switch with its next adjacent main-track and siding rails provided with my invention, the nature of which is defined in the claims hereinafter presented.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the switch-operative shaft and its movable handle. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a track with its manualpow'er switch-actuator. Figs. 4 and 5 are hori- Vzontal sections of the locking mechanism to be described, it being partially represented in dotted lines in Fig. l. Fig.6 is a vertical and transverse section taken through the switch and its automatic actuator on an enlarged scale.'

1n the above-mentioned drawings, A A and A A' are the rails of the main track, while B B are those of the siding. Ilheswitch-rails are shown at C C, they being pivoted in the usual manner at the next adjacent ends ot' the trackrails A A and connected by cross-bars a, pivoted to them. These switch-rails, at their bases, are embraced, as shown in Fig. 6, by the two arms b b of the automatic actuator D, such arms being Apivoted to such actuator, which, formed as shown, is supported to slide lengthwisebetween parallel guides c c. Within the said aetuator, and in a cam-slot, d, formed in with another sectoral cam, f, formed as shown,

is fixed on a vertical shaft, g, duly pivoted in the rest and cap plates im', arranged as shown. Between the said plates is another plate, k. The cam e is between the plates h and'k, and the cam f is between the plates k and i, and also'between parallel guides Z l, arranged with and forming part of the plate t', as shown. Between and against such guides, and arranged with the sectoral cam f in manner as represented, are two pitmen, E E', which at their outer ends are jointed to the shorter arms ot' two knee-levers, F Gr, formed and arranged with respect to the main and siding track rails in manner as represented. The longer arms ofthese levers are connected by a link, H, to which and to a short arm, m, projecting from a vertical shaft, n, a` connecting.- rod, o, is jointed. The shaft n is .the switch-operating shafr, it being duly supported in a standard, p. @The shaft has pivoted to it a handle, q, to which and the shaft a spring, r, is applied, so as tp force the handle upward intoan upright position. By taking hold of the handle and turning it down into a horizontal position a person can by means of it partially revolve theJI shaft, in order by manual power to cause the switch to be moved into alignment with either the main-track or the siding rails, as occasion may require. On removing his hand from the handle it will, by its spring', be forced upward into an upright position, in order that it may not project from the shaft in a manner to 'injnrea person while standing near the shaft whil'e the switch is operated automatically by a" railway-cnr. Another knee-lever, I, arranged as shown, has one arm pivoted to the link H, there being pivoted to the other arm a long rod, K, which goes through the switch and.V is pivoted to the shorter arm of a kneelcver, L. Such lever L, formed as represented, hasits longer arm s on or about on a level withthe top of one of the main-track rails A, the shorter arm being extended across and bcne'aththe said rail. Another arm, s', like the n onthe outside of said rail, and connected with thearm s by arod, t, jointed to both of said arms. Aj railway-car'truck is shown at M as having fu'lcrumed on one ot' its axles, at one end there'- ot, a lever, N, having itslonger arm connected to va hand-lever, O, by a connecting-rod, u. Another such lever, N', is applied to the axle at its other end, and connected by a rod, u', withranother hand-lever, O. As shown in the drawings, the ends of the arms s s are bent, so that when said arms lie against the rails there is a space between them and such rails at the ends of the arms, into which the lower ends of levers N N enter, insuring certainty of action.

If we suppose the'truck to be moving on the rails A A toward the switch., and the latter is in alignmentrwith the rails of the siding, and we desire to move the switch into alignment with the rails A Al of the.main track before the car may reach the switch, we have only i arm s,is secured adjacent to the opposite rail A IOO to move the lever N so as to throw its longer arm forward against the foremost of two stops, yv tu, projecting from the truck, such being to depress the shorter arm ot' the lever, in order to cause such shorter arm, while the truck may be advancing, to be carried between the rail A and the arm s ot the knee-lever L, and thereby move the arm s away from the rail, and thus turn the lever L in a manner to cause the three knee-levers F, G, and I to be simultaneously turned, whereby the pitman E will be pushed forward and the other drawn backward. The pitman so pushed forward will bc forced at its end against the camf, and will cause such to partially revolve and revolve the cam e, which, acting in the slot (l and against the actuator D, will move it so as to turn the switch into alignment with the rails A A.' The pitman will next slide by the cam, and in so doing will lock it in position, so as to preventit from being revolved the opposite way. 'Ihe other sectoral cam will at the same time be lirmly held in position, so as to prevent any accidental sliding of the actuator D. From the above it will be seen that each pitman and the two cams and the slotted actuator D will not only operate to move the switch in either direction, but lock it in position, so that it cannot accidentally get out of place when in alignment with either the main track or the siding. When the truck or car may be on the siding and running toward the switch, and the latter is in alignment with the rails A A', the wheel-flange ot' one side ot' the car will pass between a siding-rail and the next adjacent longer arm ofthe next adjacent linee-lever F, and press such arm inward away from the rail, whereby the switch will be moved into alignment with the siding in time for the Car to run on the switch, and thence on the rails A A ofthe main track. Il the car is on lVhen the switch is in alignment with the maiu-track rails A A A A', as shown in the drawings, and the car ismoving on the rails A A in a direction toward the switch, and it is desirable to run onto the siding-track, such result can be accomplished by moving the lever N', so as to depress its shorter arm into a position to enter between and force the arm s away from the rail A, during such movement ofthe arm s the switch will have been thrown into alignment with the siding-track.

I claim- 1. The combination, substantially as described, for automatically moving and locking the switch by the action of a wheel-flange of a car, such consisting in the slotted actuator I), the two sectoral cams e and f, the pitmen E E, and two knee-levers, F and G, and link H, all being connected and arranged with and applied to the switch and the main-track and siding rails, substantially and to operate as set forth.

2. The combination ofthe arm s', rod t, ,the knee-lever L and rod K, and knee-lever I with the switch-operative mechanism composed of the slotted actuator D, sectoral cams e and j', pitmen E E, and two knee-levers, F G, and link H, all being connected and arranged with and applied to the switch and the rails ot' the main and siding tracks,and to operatesubstantially as represented.

3. The car or truck provided with the levers N N and mechanism for operating. them, .as described, in combination with the main-track and siding rails and the switch, and with the arm s', rod t, knee-lever L, rod K, knee-lever I, and the switchoperative mechanism composed of the slotted actuator l), sectoral cams e andf, pitmen E E, and the two knee-levers, F and Gr, and link H, all being adapted and to operate substantially as set forth.

JOHN HENRY QUIMBY. Witnesses:

R. H.EDDY, S. N. PIPER. 

